Sudan suffers internet blackout amid deadly riots

Internet access was switched off across Sudan amid deadly riots sparked by
fuel price hikes in which six people were reported killed on Wednesday.

Protesters burn tyres and close the highway to northern cities amid a wave of unrest over the lifting of fuel subsidies by the Sudanese government, in Kadro, 15 miles north of downtown KhartoumPhoto: ABD RAOUF/AP

By Agencies

8:28PM BST 25 Sep 2013

The abrupt loss of internet connectivity was suspected to be the work of authorities trying to suppress the use of social media to organise protests.

The United States urged all sides to refrain from violence as the riots stretched into a third day. Cars were torched and security forces fired tear gas as protesters chanted slogans against the regime of President Omar al-Bashir.

The protests, spreading from the agricultural belt south of Khartoum to the capital and to the Darfur region in the west, erupted after the government suspended fuel subsidies resulting in steep price rises.